Value chain analysis of grass seeds in the drylands of Baringo County, Kenya: A producers’ perspective

Abstract

Pastoral households are increasingly practising fodder production in response to forage scarcity associated with land degradation, climate variability and change. Understanding the grass seed value chain is a prerequisite for developing sustainable fodder production and guiding appropriate out-scaling in the drylands. This study investigated the producers' perspectives on grass seed production, marketing and challenges faced along the grass seed value chain in Marigat SubCounty of Baringo County, Kenya. The results show that the dominant actors were the bulking and processing agents who provided inputs and were a source of grass seed market to the producers. The producers preferred contractual agreements that allowed them to sell their grass seed to markets of their choice. As independent grass seed traders allowed for seed price negotiation, they were popular amongst the producers and thus handled the most volume of seeds marketed. Drought occurrence, inability of existing outlets to purchase grass seed at times, together with low prices offered for producers' grass seed were found to be among the challenges facing the producers. There is need to strengthen the fodder groups with a possibility of registering them as cooperatives for the purpose of collective bargaining for better grass seed prices.

Determinants of pastoralists’ participation in commercial fodder markets for livelihood resilience in drylands of northern Kenya: Case of Isiolo

“…Therefore, it is only rational for the pastoralists to learn from these experiences, buy and store fodder in preparedness for drought seasons to mitigate losses. These finding corroborates Lugusa et al (2016) who observed that pastoral households who had experience with droughts were more likely to join fodder groups to easily access livestock feeds.…”

“…In Baringo County, the grass seed market is formalized, as transactions are based on contractual arrangements that integrate input provision and purchase of seeds. This is due to the involvement of large private sector players such as the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA), Rehabilitation of Arid Environments Trust (RAE) and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) (Lugusa et al 2016). Omollo et al (2017) noted that grass seed markets in Kajiado and Makueni Counties are still developing and informal in nature with limited private sector participation.…”

“…Omollo et al (2018) assessed the determinants of pastoral and agro-pastoral households' participation in fodder production in the southern drylands of Kenya and found that education, access to extension services, membership to social/development group and gender of household head were the key determinants. Likewise, other studies have focused mainly on the grass seed value chain in terms of the existing markets, diverse actors, challenges and opportunities that exist along the chain in Baringo, Kajiado and Makueni Counties, respectively (Lugusa et al 2016;Omollo et al 2017). The current study contributes to the literature by addressing two key objectives; firstly, assessing the effects of socio-economic and institutional factors on pastoralists' decisions to purchase fodder and secondly, evaluating the determinants of the amount of fodder purchased.…”

Plant species composition and diversity depending on piospheres and seasonality in the southern rangelands of Kenya

“…This was because some of the ephemerals like S. verticillata were present only during the wet season. Ephemerals are grass species which regenerate immediately after the rains (Verdoodt et al 2010;Lugusa et al 2016), emerging where decreaser species have been depleted as a result of heavy grazing and are therefore a sign of poor range condition (Oluwole Sabiiti and Teka (2004) and Machogu (2013), Chloris, Hyparrhenia, Aristida, and Sporobolus spp. are some of the most pronounced grasses in the East African rangelands due to their selfseeding ability, tolerance to drought, and spreading capacity.…”

Prosopis juliflora management and grassland restoration in Baringo County, Kenya: Opportunities for soil carbon sequestration and local livelihoods

“…With climate change and the associated higher variability of the beginning and duration of the various seasons, grass is considered a more secure crop compared to local staple crops like maize or beans; particularly perennial grass species require less rain for completion of a cropping cycle. Growing grass for seed production is widespread in some of the sublocations, and farmers can also sell the hay (Lugusa et al, 2016). Pressure on grazing land is generally very high in Baringo and other pastoralist regions in Eastern Africa, with overgrazing having contributed considerably to land degradation and an increase in bare areas (Kiage et al, 2007).…”